DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v27i6.96

Keywords: Schiff base; fluorescent; nanoparticles; zinc sulphide; ferric ion

Abstract

Highly fluorescent salicylaldehyde-bound Schiff base-capped zinc sulphide nanoparticles were synthesised by treating the Schiff base, N-Hexadecylsalicylideneamine (L¹), with a solution containing zinc salt and a reducing agent. The synthesised Schiff base-capped zinc sulphide nanoparticles (L¹@ZnS NPs) were characterised by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The L¹@ZnS NPs were found to be a selective and sensitive fluorescent probe for the determination of ferric [Fe (III)] ions. The fluorescent sensor displayed a linear response in the range from 0.149 μM to 1.47 μM, with the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.093 μM and 0.282 μM, respectively.